Weetabix Additions Raisin and Apple

Weetabix is a staple in my house, it's a really healthy choice: low in sugar, fat and salt and you can customise it with different dairy free milks and toppings or fruit every morning for a brand new take on breakfast each day. I really highly rate the Weetabix Protein from last year, which took everything I love about one of my most eaten cereals and then gave it a protein boost to provide a plant based protein boost at breakfast.

Capitalising on what I assume was the success of Weetabix Protein is these two Additions versions of Weeabix - one with coconut and raisins and one with apple and raisins. Nutribrex already does a coconut wheat free cereal, which I love so thought I'd give the apple and raisin one a go. They're vegan and high in fibre, low in salt and full of wholegrains.

It certainly smelt of apple and raisin with also a noticeable hint of cinnamon giving it that crumble/ autumnal pudding kind of smell and feel. They look like standard Weetabix although you can see a few little raisins studded throughout.

Texturally they're similar to Weetabix to so you can either soak them in milk and let them go soggy or briefly dowse in milk and then eat them whilst they're still solid. Because these are flavoured I decided to go for almond milk as it's quite neutral rather than my preferred coconut milk or cashew milk, which have stronger flavours, which might not work with these. Unfortunately the taste didn't work for me and it just tasted slightly odd, a little too sweet and a bit too artificial. The raisins are quite small and certainly not juicy, although the cinnamon notes are quite warming and pleasant.

It's not awful or inedible but my main problem is they've taken a great, healthy breakfast and added in a load of sugar and syrups and odd sounding ingredients. The original Weetabix is low in sugars whereas these have 15g sugars per 100g or 6.5g per two biscuit serving. It's not horrendously unhealthy but I don't see why you would pick something like these at breakfast over the original although I might eaten these as a healthier dessert/ evening snack.

It also ruins what for me is the key point of Weetabix - its blankness and neutrality. With a strong apple and cinnamon flavour, it makes the product a lot less versatile and stops you adding your own flavour combinations and individual twists, which you can do with the original.

It's a nice idea but not properly executed in my opinion and I'll stick with my low sugar and neutral original Weetabix.

Price:£2.95
Bought at: Tesco
Nutrition per 2 biscuits: 149 calories, 0.8g fat, 0.2g sat fat, 6.5g sugars, 0.08g salt

Score: 5/10

Kelloggs Ancient Legends Coconut and Chia Porridge

Kelloggs launched their Ancient Legends range earlier this year but I never got round to trying any of the mueslis, granolas or cereals. They've expanded this Autumn in time for winter with 3 new porridge flavours - a plain no added sugar one, a date one and this coconut one. Each of the range is not just your usual satchet of oats but a mix of oats and ancient grains spelt and barley and on trend chia seeds.

First thing is these are ridiculously expensive at £1.99 for 6x30g satchets considering a box of oats is around the same price even if yo buy a premium brand and they're 1kg. Secondly is these portions are miniscule , like ridiculous mouse portion small. I know it's probably aimed at dieting women who ate special K but still...123 calories for breakfast really isn't sufficient.

I made mine with unsweetened almond milk in the microwave and added some chopped nuts to a bit of a crunchy topping. It was actually quite nice and more interesting than the Quaker Oats So Simple I think, It had subtle coconut flavour although was a little sweet as there is added sugar in the coconut version at 12g per 100g but around 3.6g of sugars per serving which for Kelloggs and their need to add sugar to everything isn't too bad. The ancient grains make the texture a bit more interesting.

For a satchet porridge it's okay, But I wouldn't buy it again as it's cheaper and healthier to just make your own porridge plus you can customise it and make it your own and most importantly get a decent portion!

Price: £1.99
Bought at: Tesco
Nutrition per 30g without milk: 123 calories, 3.3g fat, 1.2g sat fat, 3.6g sugars, 3g protein, 3g fibre,

Moma Super Seeds Porridge

After enjoying the coconut and chia Moma porridge pot and having an early morning where I had no access to a microwave for my usual porridge, I thought I'd give another one a go - this time the superseeds. This one does contain dairy and is your normal porridge but also has no added sugar and actually because of the dairy you get more protein in it as well. As well as being high in protein, it's also a really source of fibre and we all know about oats and their cholesterol lowering function. A nice touch about this one as well is that it's gluten free.

In addition to gluten free oats and skimmed milk powder, it contains pumpkin seeds, linseed and chia seeds. This adds a nice textural contrast to the creamy, soft porridge and adds a little flavour. It's super simple to make, just pour in boiling water to the line, stir and wait five minutes so very convenient if you don't have access to a microwave or hob but still want porridge.

Having dairy in this one, I think makes it an improvement over the coconut milk one as it means the texture is much more rich and creamy. It also feels more filling, I guess because the milk adds necessary and protein. This plus a banana and a latte kept me suitably full until lunch.

Again, I prefer to make my own porridge and this isn't cost effective but it's probably the best and most nutritious porridge pot I've found.

Price: £1.29
Bought at: Ocado
Nutrition per pot: 254 calories, 4.3g fat, 0.8g sat fat, 9.9g sugars, 5.4g fibre, 14.4g protein, 0.4g salt

Moma Coconut and Chia Porridge - Dairy Free

I don’t really do premade porridge pots – generally they’re too sweet, too processed and frankly it takes no time to make from scratch and the you can add whatever flavourings you like. However, I’m quite partial to the moma bircher mueslis and as the pot a) has no added sugar b) came in a more unusual coconut and chia version, I was happy to pay the extra price to give it a go. It’s also a diary free instant porridge pot, which is quite unusual. Instead it relies on coconut milk – albeit coconut milk powder. 

The premise is the same as the usual porridge pots. Add hot water, stir , leave for a bit and dig in. I followed the instructions and came out quite nicely and it certainly smelt very coconutty. Despite the lack of sugar, it still tastes sweet and pleasant despite only containing 1.7g per pot. However, the texture isn’t as good as my regular porridge with a slightly more watery taste and texture. To an extent this isn’t Moma’s fault as it’s dairy free so is never going to be as thick and creamy as porridge made with milk.

However, I also make my porridge with proper almond milk or coconut milk and it’s still richer than this. I think this must be because it’s only coconut milk powder, which  you add boiling water to. Generally porridge pots texture is more watery because you’re adding water to them and I guess that’s the price you pay for convenience.

However, it’s a genuinely healthy breakfast on the go and it’s nice to see a porridge pot that isn’t pumped full of sugar and artificial ingredients. It’s also pretty high in protein with 6.6g per pot and although I still prefer making my own porridge so I can get a better portion size, this is fairly substantial. The chia seeds don;’t add a lot at 2.5% and when cooked in it don’t produve much bar the speckled appearance. Again when I make my own porridge I like to add chia at the end as a topping so I get the crunch.

Essentially homemade still triumphs but this probably the healthiest on the go porridge I’ve seen and would definitely be my go to choice if I needed a convenient option

Price: £1.49

Bought at: Ocado

Nutrition per pot: 247 calories, 8.4g fat, 5.1g sat fat, 1.7g sugars, 6.6g protein, 0.01g salt

Score: 7/10

New Tesco Cereals

As I've said before I'm a compplete cereal addict and it usually ends my day as an evening snack as well beginning a day. No matter how many boxes and kinds I have at home, I can't help but always wander down the cereal aisle just to see what's new. There's a fair few new ones appearing including some interesting Tesco own label ones

I love bitesize shredded wheat and these two new versions with mutli grains initially caught my eye. Until I saw they 15% sugar. Considering normal bitesize shredded wheat has no sugar, I don't see why I'd swap to these. Either be healthy or be treaty like a good granola. There's a rye and quinoa one and a barley and spelt one

Similarly on the naughty cereal partners theme, there's the new Shreddies Max Protein granola tapping into the trend for all things protein. But again, it's pretty sugary and there are far healthier granola out there that also come in bigger boxes and are better value.

Luckily Tesco realise we want less sugary cereals with their new reduced sugar cranberry and almond granola. This is something I definitely want to try once i run down my existing granola stock.

As is this super grains and seeds granola with Oat and spelt flakes with puffed quinoa sweetened with honey, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and linseed. Yum.

Quaker are also getting in on the healthier eating with a new range of oat muesis with no added sugar including a nuts and seeds and a strawberry version. Quaker are synonymous with porridge and oats so I would be interested in trying their take on muesli

Whereas the Kelloggs Ancient Legends is making the move the other way. From their granolas and mueslis there is new Kelloggs Ancient Legends porridge - there's a plain one with no added sugar in and also a coconut one that is slightly sweetened although the sugar content is a lower than other porridges. Both are a mix of oats, barley, chia and spelt for a mix of grains. I do quite want to try these but there is no way I'm paying £1.99 for 6 tiny portions when a box of oats is £1 with enough breakfasts for weeks.

And finally if you want breakfast a little sweeter Tesco have launched golden syrup malt wheats  - a golden syrup take on Shreddies.

So many cereals, so little space in my cereal cupboard....there's just so much here I want to try.

Nutribrex Coconut and Crispy Rice

After adding Nutribix to my ever increasing cereal repertoire (I just love the stuff and tend to eat it twice a day!), they've added a new coconut and crispy rice variant to the range and also renamed themselves as Nutri-brex. Slightly odd choice of name I must admit and at first I thought it was some kind of temporary PR thing in relation to Brexit but apparently they're actually sticking with this.

Like the regular Nutribrex it's a sorghum based breakfast cereal in biscuit form and is gluten free as sorghum does not contain gluten like wheat so I imagine very nice for coeliacs who miss their Weetabix or Shredded Wheat. What I liked about the original Nutribrex was how simple it was, allowing you to top it and customise each day however you want.

With crispy rice, coconut and cinnamon in this, this has a flavour all of its own. It's not super strongly flavoured so actually still works very well with whatever you choose to throw at it but because of the coconut and cinnamon it's also very nice just as it is. You can definitely get the tropical taste of coconut, which partners surprisingly well with the warmth of cinnamon. It's a cereal that would equally for breakfast in summer or winter.

The crisped rice doesn't add a huge amount and for me gets a bit lost but does add a little bit of crunch and textural interest. Like the regular Nutribrex these need a serious amount of milk and soaking time to soften them but it's worth it in the end.

I think I probably prefer it to the original overall and now I've got another cereal to feed my addiction to the stuff

Bought at: Asda
Nutrition per 3 biscuit serving: 201 calories, 4.2g fat, 2.2 sat fat, 4.1g sugars, 4.9g protein, 3.8g fibre, 0.22g salt

Score: 8/10

Moma Plain Porridge Review

I always prefer making my own porridge from pure unrefined oats but somehow ended up with this Moma Plain Porridge instant pot. It’s your typical porridge pot for those who can’t be bothered to make their own. One thing that makes it slightly better than the likes of most marketed porridge pots is that it’s a decent serving size and when made gives over 200 calories rather than those skimpy 100 calorie ones which are not in any way an adequate start to the day. You can’t knock the cleaner ingredients vs other brands as well – this is just oats, skimmed milk powder and sugar. I was disappointed to see sugar in this especially as it’s caused plain and I never add sugar to any cereal or porridge.

The pot feels nice to hold and is certainly convenient for taking out and about. Opening it up I could see the oats were chunkier and more whole than the likes of Quaker which was appealing. I followed the instructions and added boiling water, stirred, put the lid on and left it.

When I came back it was done to a decent consistency, fairly thick and creamy but not solid. I do prefer porridge very thick but this was perfectly acceptable and I could have easily have left it a bit longer or put less water in. 

The porridge was very creamy, milky and comforting but I did just find it a little too sweet. Certainly it’s much less sweet than every other porridge pot I’ve tried and definitely the best one I’ve ever had. However, I just don’t see the need for sugar in this kind of product and the sweetness was too noticeable for me. Fairplay though it’s gluten free and uses British oats so has a lot more going for it than the likes of Quaker

If you buy porridge pots, I would recommend it – it’s a more premium and less adulterated version. However, why not just buy a bag of plain oats and make your own just the way you like it

Price: £1.49

Bought at: Waitrose

Nutrition per pot: 257 calories, 4.2g fat, 0.7g sat fat, 14.3g sugars, 10.9g protein, 5.3g fibre, 0.1g salt

Score: 6.5/10

 

Jordans Swiss Style Muesli Review

I practically live off muesi and granola - it's my go to breakfast along with porridge. If you pick the right brand they can be made of natural ingredients with only natural sugars from fruit , a good source of fibre and I just find them utterly delicious. There's something just so comforting about muesli and frankly it's as much a bedtime snack as my morning first meal.

Jordan's are a brand I don't usually buy - generally their granolas and mueslis are a little too high in sugar - though they are very tasty. However, this new Swiss Style muesli is a good healthy option. Essentially it's Jordans take on the no added sugar version of Alpen. A mainstream Swiss muesli with sweetness only coming from natural sources. However, the Jordans one is a little lower in sugar at 11.7% but essentially it's pretty similar - made up of British oat flakes, toasted malted wheat flakes, raisins, skimmed milk poweder and almonds.

Pouring it out it looked very similar although I think the raisins are more noticeable in the Jordans one as they looked more plump and juicer than Alpen. The bag is also pretty good value at the same price as Alpen no added sugar but for 800g not 560g.

I had mine with cashew milk and it was just so soothing, refreshing and delicious. The skimmed milk powder is dusted all over the flakes and initially you think it looks a little dusty as you pour it into the bowl but once wet it just adds a real creaminess and just makes everything so delicious. The raisins are extremely sweet and succulent and it's just utterly delicious.

If you like Alpen, you'll like this and it's great to have another healthy no added sugar muesli option for breakfast made of natural ingredients.

Price: £2.80
Bought at: Sainsburys
Nutrition per 45g serve: 168 calories, 2.4g fat, 0.4g sat fat, 5.3g sugar, 5.7g protein, 3.7g fibre, 0.02g salt

Score: 8/10

Quaker Toasted Oats Porridge Review

Porridge is probably my most frequently eaten breakfast and something I eat most days - albeit sometimes in the form of bircher muesli in the summer. Generally I think it is worth paying just a little bit more for good oats rather than the sawdust you get in value ranges. Frankly, oats are so cheap anyway that paying an extra £1 for something that will do you breakfast for you for at least 3 weeks is hardly an expense.

So open minded to more expensive oats, I bought these new toasted oats from Quaker who are probably the most famous porridge brand, These oats are 'gently toasted for a rich and warm flavour' and can be used hot or cold.

Pouring into the bowl, they unsurprisingly looked like normal oats. I made up my porridge with Alpro almond milk and then topped with a sprinkling of seeds, nuts and granola for a nice bit of crunch. My verdict - absolutely delicious, warming and filling - but in reality no different to my normal porridge.

Don't get me wrong, they were good quality oats and made a thick, creamy porridge and there's nothing added to them - but I got no toasted flavour whatsoever. Maybe because I packed so much flavour in there with almond milk and all the toppings it got lost. It may be the toasted flavour comes out more raw in bircher muesli.

They were nice oats and I'll happily finish the box but really not worth the extra in my opinion.

Price: £2.09
Bought at Ocado
Nutrition per 40g serving: 150 calories, 3.2g fat, 0.6g sat fat, 0.4g sugars, trace salt

Score: 6.75/10

Alpen Granola Review - Raisins, Almonds and Granola

I've said it many times before but breakfast is my favourite meal. I just love granola, porridge and mueslis and eat them morning, noon and night. Nowadays I tend to go for more premium brands that are less processed and with less sugar like Rude Health, Dorset Cereals and Lizi's. However, I've always been a big fan of Alpen and regularly buy the no added sugar one so was interested into their first move into granola.

There is also a Multiseed and a multifruit version but I went for raisins, almonds and hazelnuts as I love nuts and these are typical ingredients you get in the standard Alpen. The packaging looks really nice and is fitting with the brand although I doubt you would get the recommended 10 servings out of this 450g bag. It's probably not the best value granola at £2.99 per quite small bag. Especially considering the ingredients list isn't that generous. Whereas Dorset Cereals are extremely generous with nuts and seeds, this has a mere 3% flaked almonds and 1.3% whole hazelnuts with just over 2% of sunflower seeds and 2% linseeds.

Sugar wise, it is a reasonable for a mainstream granola at 19g per 100g - certainly better than the likes of Kelloggs and some of this will come from the raisins but you can quite easily get granolas nowadays with 10g or less, which is what I prefer.

Bearing in the mind the recommended 10 servings, I had quite a meagre bowl but it looks pretty good with great big, crunchy clusters. And fair play there are a lot of raisins here. It also has a nice faint, sweetish scent from the honey in it. The clusters have a good mix of cereals in with oats, wheats and seeds and this translates into a nice mix of textures.

They are pretty tasty to eat. I had mine with some unsweetened almond milk and it was nice and nutty with a faint sweetness. It's sweet enough but definitely not overly sweet like some of the sugary granolas in the market. The pieces have a nice crunch too them but they're also very easy to eat and not to hard. Raisins add extra bursts of sweetness and juiciness and are not dry or chewy and don't stick in your teeth.

Overall, I quite liked this granola. For a mainstream brand it's healthier than other offerings although I would like the sugar reduced a little bit. It also needs to be better value as it's a small bag and they need to be more generous with the nuts and seeds. One to buy occasionally on offer but not good enough for me to be loyal to.

Price: £2.99
Bought at: Tesco (£2 promo offer)
Nutrition per 45g bowl: 198 calories, 6.8g fat, 0.7g sat fat, 8.6g sugars, 0g salt

Score: 7/10

Fuel 10k Protioats Forest Fruits Review

Porridge is actually one of my favourite foods - not just breakfast food but in all foods. Thick, creamy, warming and good for you as well. It's just comforting. I guess it's why I like rice pudding too. It just feels like it's insulating you from the inside out.

However, i tend to buy pure unadultered porridge oats rather than things like the Quaker satchets as I want a healthy, unprocessed and unsweetened product. So I wouldn't usually buy something like this instant porridge pot from Fuel but I got a free sample. Fuel 10k are a breakfast brand that add protein to their products. Porridge is filling anyway but at the moment protein is key trend.

Like all porridge pots, it was a simple fill to the line with boiling water, stir, lid on and leave for a few minutes job. Forest fruit is a unusual flavour in most things nowadays, yet alone porridge so this was of interest to me. Opening the lid after following the instructions, it didn't smell particularly like forest fruits but did look quite appetising and I could see some bits of fruit dotted throughout.

Consistency wise it was runnier than I make my porridge but perfectly edible and tasted quite creamy. I thought it was fairly sweet, not overly so and it was tasty but as someone who doesn't sweeten my porridge it tasted much more processed. Whilst the forest fruit didn't particulalry come though as being obviously forest fruit, the porridge was very tasty. It was also suitably filling and I made it to lunch with no snacking - and this was after a gym session as well.

This made a nice treat but not something I would buy very often as the added sugar is just unncessary for me and I prefer to make my own from unprocessed oats so I can control the ingredients and consistency and texture. However, it was nice tasting and if you like this sort of thing, might be worth a try.

Price: £1.09
Nutrition per 60g pot: 221 calories, 2.6 fat, 0.5g sat fat, 16.5 sugars, 11.5g protein, 0.11g salt

Score: 6.5/10

Nutribix Gluten Free Wholegrain Sorghum Cereal

Cereal is probably one of my favourite foods and a staple of my diet although I do prefer to keep to the simple options - Weetabix, Shredded Wheat, Porridge etc that I can then customise and top myself for added nutrition. Sadly the majority of cereals that hit the shelves are overly sweetened,  overly processed sugar bombs so I don't often get to try new ones. Weetabix Protein I tried recently and absolutely loved (review here) but browsing the freefrom page on Ocado, I found a kind of Weetabix esque product... but without the wheat - making it a gluten free cereal.

Instead Nutribix is made from wholegrain sorghum, which is a type of genus of plants according to wikipedia whatever the means. Essentially it's a type of anicent grain and mostly found in Australia, which is where this product comes from.What this translates into though is a cereal that looks very similar to Weetabix, 96% wholegrain, low in sugar and a source of fibre.

The ingredients are nice and minimal with only a touch of golden syrup for sweetness, some salt and some added vitamins apart from the sorghum. The box probably isn't the most exciting one ever but I have to say practically speaking it's pretty good. Unlike Weetabix which are wrapped up and need yo be lifted out of the box, these are wrapped in a kind of paper tissue making them nice and accessible without getting cereal all over the worktop.

They're slightly smaller than a Weetabix and feel lighter - probably due to being made of sorghum. I had mine with almond milk, fresh fruit and some chia seeds and spelt flakes scattered on top.

For all it's likeness to Weetabix, it tastes nothing like it so those hoping for a wheat and gluten free like-for-like swap might be disappointed. However, that's not to say I didn't like because I thought this had a really unusual, natural and nutty taste.

The texture is different to Weetabix too - less firm and disintegrates more leaving a feathery kind of texture in the mouth, which I enjoyed as well. It tastes natural and isn't sweet allowing you to customise it however you want. The flavour isn't too pronounced but it is deep and of wholegrain which is something I particularly enjoy.

Despite being gluten and wheat free, anyone who likes plain cereals or things like Shredded Wheat would appreciate these. I will definitely buy them again and it's great to have another choice to add to my regular cereal repertoire that is also good for you.

Price: £3.79
Bought at: Ocado
Nutrition per 3 biscuit serving: 174 calories, 1.7g fat, 0.3g sat fat, 1.0g sugar, 0.27g salt

Score: 9/10

Weetabix Protein Review

I don't think anyone can have failed to notice the influx of new protein enhanced products in the supermarkets with breakfast cereals particularly getting a lot of protein offerings. Special K, Eat Natural, Fuel ...they're all at it. Weetabix have already been making footsteps into protein territory with Weetabix Protein crunch and Weetabix Protein Breakfast drinks on the go. Neither of these products have appealed to me though - a little too sugary for a breakfast offering.

Weetabix Protein however is a protein enhanced version of the usual Weetabix bricks - so a good plain cereal with minimum sugar or additives. Looking at the ingredients and nutrition, I was very impressed. The main difference to standard Weetabix is added wheat gluten, rice flour, wheat starch, wheat germ and cocoa (though there is no chocolatey taste so don't worry about this).

This translates into a product that is almost double the protein of standard Weetabix - 19g per 100g vs 10g per 100g on standard Weetabix. For a two biscuit serving you get just under 8g of protein - about the same as an egg. Add some milk to it and you're getting even more protein.

Like standard Weetabix it is also low in fat, sugar and salt so a perfect everyday breakfast. Pouring it into a bowl, I had a minor criticism in that this seemed to get more mess over the worktop trying to prise the biscuits out than standard Weetabix but I may have bought a particularly bashed up box from my Sainsburys.

Texture and taste wise I felt this was largely similar to standard Weetabix except for one addition - the protein crispies studded throughout. Even when saturated in milk, these inclusions remained crispy for a little bit more of an interesting texture when eating the biscuits.A lot of reviews said these seem to soak up more milk than normal Weetabix. I didn't really find this to be the case - maybe they need a tad more but it's not really noticeable.

I like to turn my Weetabix into mush and then make a kind of paste which I top. Weetabix is always a great blank canvas to top with whatever you want and this is no exception. Today I had strawberries and prunes on it and mixed some flaxseed in (a great source of omega 3!) but most toppings would work well here.

The Weetabix is mild and comforting in taste but as said the embedded crispies make it just a bit more interesting. What's nice about this protein cereal as well is that it contains no soy unlike a lot of protein enhanced products. Both Special K and Fuel use this in their protein cereals.

Weetabix is such a household staple that it often seems unexciting and gets forgotten about but I really enjoyed these Weetabix Protein and it's got me wanting to eat it more often. You can customise it in so many ways and it's good for you. A 2 biscuit serving is also enhanced with over 80% of your iron and contains lots of other added vitamins so also great for vegetarians who might struggle to get enough.

And the proof of the protein - I did feel slightly more full after these than maost other breakfast cereals.Filling, tasty and healthy - I would certainly buy these again

Bought at: Sainsburys
Price: £2 (on special offer)

Nutrition per 2 biscuit serving: 144 calories, 0.8g fat, 0.2g sat fat,1.9g sugar, 0.10g salt

Score:9.5/10